Stating the obvious: Money plays an important role in any business, something that is especially evident in the formation of a startup. With sites like Kickstarter, GoFundMe and Indiegogo, many startups have gone the way of crowdfunding to acquire adequate funds for their endeavors. Crowdfunding has provided a handful of success stories (a couple of my favorite stories involve an independent film’s budget and a band’s reunion album), but for every success, there are plenty of campaigns that fly under the radar and fail to reach their goals. Copy Hackers wrote an article that maps out strategies for startups to develop successful Kickstarter pages, and highlighted a few examples throughout the article. Given the nature of the site, the points made in this article are inspired by copywriting sensibilities, giving readers effective tips to make one’s Kickstarter stand out among the crowd. Continue reading “Putting the “Fun” in Funding”

With a big sigh of relief, I survived my class’ elevator pitch assignment. In all honesty, for an assignment that’s been associated with so much dread, I didn’t think it was too much of a teeth-pulling experience (but still not a complete cakewalk, mind you). Perhaps my prior endeavors in public speaking prepared me for the delivery aspect of the pitch. Regardless, I found the assignment to be one that encouraged us to think critically about our startup ideas and structure that thinking into a concise piece. Continue reading “Ninth Inning Pitch. Elevator Pitch.”

Every now and then, I would occasionally hear the rants and raves of people who were enrolled in the class I’m currently taking. Among other things, there was one topic that carried a particular feeling of dread among students, and that’s the topic my class is now approaching: The infamous elevator pitch assignment. Indeed, the idea of selling an idea or company to someone in the length of an elevator ride is a daunting task. Knowing the importance of an elevator pitch, Slidebeantook a closer look at what goes into a good pitch and created an article with examples and insights for the production of one’s own elevator pitch – examples that I will likely be using as I approach this upcoming project. Continue reading “The Opening Pitch. Elevator Pitch.”

After reading the next assigned article, Steve Blank’s “Why the Lean Start-Up Changes Everything” (as seen in the May 2013 issue of the Harvard Business Review), I was tempted to include the link to a post I wrote a couple classes ago about the changing media landscape. However, I’ve already linked to that article two or three times in the past, so another linking probably wouldn’t be necessary. Nonetheless, the sentiment of that article remains in tact: Times are changing – something that’s especially evident when looking at the media. With that, Blank’s article introduces a new business model for startups to adopt that’s more flexible, efficient and customer-focused than the linear business plans of yesterday, and this new business model (named the “Lean Start-Up”) encourages entrepreneurs to take a step back and listen closer to the people at the core of a successful startup: Its customers. Continue reading “Reaction Time”

As the class explores the idea of entrepreneurial media, we’ve been tasked with looking at work done by people in our shoes and read a little about startups created by fellow college students. Indeed, Inc. ran an article that highlighted the eight finalists in a startup competition among students, and strictly in terms of ideas, all of which sound intriguing and full of potential. However, to succeed in our current media environment, a startup has to have more than just a clever idea. This thought encouraged me to take a closer look at these finalists and examine how realistic it is to see their startups do well in the future.

And right on schedule, it’s time for the Com-Tech Analysis to come out of hiatus. In what will now be three out of my four years of undergraduate studies, I have come to this blog to write reflections on articles and class discussions (all of which during the Fall semester), and seeing as I’m now in a senior capstone class, perhaps it’s fitting that I find myself writing here again. Continue reading “Changing Times, Same Blog (Alternate Title: Shall We Begin for a Third Time?)”

On this day, 10 years ago, EA Sports released NASCAR 09. Aside from a 2009 kart racing spinoff, it was the final NASCAR game to be released by Electronic Arts, and marked a brief hiatus for yearly NASCAR video games until Eutechnyx and Activision released NASCAR The Game: 2011.

I remember having a conversation with a friend who bought an older NASCAR game at a used game store. It was surreal to realize that none of the drivers in one of the pictures he sent me currently competes on a full time basis. That discussion inspired me to revisit NASCAR 09 on its tenth anniversary and see how its roster holds up. This analysis is based upon the 2017 and current season (up to the Firekeepers Casino 400), discussing whether or not the driver races full time in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Ladies and gentlemen, prepare to feel old.